Study on the peak current of power supply during a Hall thruster start-up

Abstract It is known that the peak current in start-up process would affect the operation of the power supply system in Hall thrusters. Experimental testing shows that the peak current on the power supply side is elusive with different operating conditions. This causes the setting of over-current value of power supply into dilemma. The formation mechanism of the peak current on the power supply side is discussed and the theoretical boundary is deduced through the measurement of pressures in discharge channel, a given ionization rate and parameters of a Hall thruster. Results show that the analysis and predictions are in reasonable agreement with experimental results.